brick

• What are they made of? Natural clay minerals, including kaolin and shale, make up the main body of brick. they are composed of ceramic material
• What are they used for? It may be roughly accurate to say that about 65 percent of all the brick in the world goes into dwellings, and 35 percent goes into commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. Construction techniques change yearly and from country to country, but basically most brick and tile are used in walls, with lesser use in roofs and floors.
• How many types of brick are there? There are many types of brick. Some are different in formation and composition while others vary according to their use. Some commonly used types of brick are described in the following paragraphs.
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• COMMON brick is made of ordinary clays or shales and burned in the usual manner in the kilns. These bricks do not have special scorings or markings and are not produced in any special color or surface texture. Common brick is also known as hard- and kiln-run brick. It is used generally for backing courses in solid or cavity brick walls. The harder and more durable kinds are preferred for this purpose.
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• FACE bricks are used in the exposed face of a wall and are higher quality units than backup brick. They have better durability and appearance. The most common colors of face brick are various shades of brown, red, gray, yellow, and white.
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• CLINKER bricks are bricks that have been overburned in the kilns. This type of brick is usually hard and durable and may be irregular in shape. Rough hard corresponds to the clinker classification. PRESS bricks are made by the dry press process. This class of brick has regular smooth faces, sharp edges, and perfectly square corners. Ordinarily, all press brick are used as face brick.
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• GLAZED bricks have one surface of each brick glazed in white or other colors. The ceramic glazing consists of mineral ingredients that fuse together in a glass-like coating during burning. This type of brick is particularly suited for walls or partitions in hospitals, dairies, laboratories, or other buildings where cleanliness and ease of cleaning are necessary.
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• FIREBRICK is made of a special type of fire clay that will withstand the high temperatures of fireplaces, boilers, and similar usages without cracking or decomposing. Firebrick is larger than regular structural brick, and often, it is hand molded.
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• CORED BRICK are made with two rows of five holes extending through their beds to reduce weight. There is no significant difference between the strength of walls constructed with cored brick and those constructed with solid brick. Resistance to moisture penetration is about the same for both types of walls. The most easily available brick that will meet the requirements should be used whether the brick is cored or solid.
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• SAND-LIME bricks are made from a lean mixture of slaked lime and fine silicious sand, molded under mechanical pressure and hardened under steam pressure.
• What is the meaning of brick laying techniques? Since there are so many types of bricks, and so many different uses for bricks, and so many ways to organize them, therefore, brick laying techniques are the different ways in which you can put a brick.
  
• Describe 2 brick laying techniques

Bricks are laid to expose their ends (Header bricks), or sides (Stretcher bricks). As the work progresses, the bricks are laid in rows called courses. The manner in which the bricks overlap as they are laid up is called the bond of which there are two main types: half bond and quarter bond. Types of bonding arrangements include English bond, Flemish bond, and Herringbone bond, but the most common type of brickwork seen these days is the simple stretcher bond, showing only the long side-surface of the brick
BRICKLAYING

Bricklaying is a skilled trade that takes many years to master. Bricks are laid in courses, on a bed of mortar, with a taut string linesed as a guide to line and level. The horizontal joint is the "bed joint"; the vertical joints are "perpends".
The ends of walls are built first, with the level and verticality of the bricks checked repeatedly as the corners/ends are raised. The gauging is also checked, to ensure that 4 courses measures 300mm.

Bricklaying techniques

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• What are their advantages and disadvantages?

ADVANTAGES

thermal and acoustic insulation
biocompatibility in bioarchitecture
precise installation
a thousand shades of colour
maximum creative liberty

DISADVANTAGES

labor intensive to install
requires maintenance, repointing, periodically
little strength in tension
expensive


What construction material would you use to build your own house? Why?
It would all depend on where I build my house. If it is in the city I would use a lot of bricks because I like brick, since it has a great color and it adds order to the house. If I had to build my house in a more natural place, not so many buildings, I would use stone and wood, to make my house relaxing. In either way I would put a lot of glass on my house because I like to be able to see to the outside, and I would never use concrete because its too rough and it does not give me a sensation that I can be relaxed.

1. Find out the meaning of the expressions below, and write your explanation on your wiki. Illustrations will be appreciated!
• Brick upon brick
Brick upon brick means that someone is doing something step by step, with patience, with no rush. Since putting bricks is such a time-consuming work, this expression is meant for someone who is spending a lot of time to do something and not rushing nor doing things badly. This expression is often followed by one that says "row by row" which is the whole row of bricks, and in few cases it can be seen as the verb that people with boats and canoes use witch is to row with a paddle.
The words "step by step" are a good synonym since that refers to a step in the stairs, some people rush over one step, or two in some cases, others just go putting only one foot on the step, while other always put both feet on the step before taking the next one. A few examples for this expression are:

1. They’re building hope brick upon brick, plowing the field row upon row, hoping to one day reap a cultural, and spiritual, harvest.
2. He is reconstructing his business again brick by brick to be sure nothing goes wrong this time.
3. She is incorporating back to her life brick by brick, after the downfall she suffered last year.

• Brick & mortar
Brick and mortar (B&M) usually refers to a company which possesses a building for operations. The phrase can be a false word since not all buildings are physically constructed from bricks and mortar. This expression is also meant to say that two people or to things go together, that they are inseparable, that they were meant to go together, that together they work great, the best combination. This phrase can be used in a teamwork, a partner work, two friends, or when two people that are in love. If you want to paste two different pages, the glue will work better than bubble gum, so after using the glue, you can say that the papers are now like brick and mortar. Just like two puzzle pieces, they have to go together, with other pieces they will not work as perfect as it does.

1. Those two are like brick and mortar, like girls and dolls, like bubble gum and flavor, they were meant for each other.
2. Since my dads company allied with the Microsoft Company, they have been like brick and mortar, they are both working excellent and they have never had as many clients as they have now.

• Be /come up against a brick wall

To be / come up against a brick wall means to not be able to continue an activity or do something you want to do. It is like a dead end, with no option to go, but to go back. Suppose you are running and you want to do it in a straight line, no returning and not going around go into an ally filled with brick walls, and yo get inside this alley witch is filled with brick walls, then you have nowhere to go, except to go back. It usually applies to situations in life in which you do not know what to do and you do not want to go back, because maybe it was really hard to get there; it is barely used in a literal way.

1. I've tried everywhere I can think of for funding but I've come up against a brick wall.
2. My brother wants to leave home but he can't find a job. He's up against a brick wall.

• Come down on somebody like a ton of bricks
When this expression is used, this means that someone got really awful news and did not expect it, like a surprise but not the one someone would like. If a ton of bricks really fell on someone, they would come unexpected and it would be horrible, nothing good may come out of it.

1. The news about her dead son came down on her like a ton o bricks
2. After they told him she has been kidnapped, he looked like a ton of bricks fell over him.

• Drop a brick
Another phrase for this expression would be, drop a clanger.This means when someone says something indiscreet, commit a social gaffe. It is also referred usually when someone makes a stupid or a big mistake.

1. John dropped a brick when he called her by his ex-wife's name.
2. She drop a brick on the weekend when she wore just a simple t shirt and bluejeans to the gala party.
3. All these models drop the brick when they fall.